Moving Behind The Glass

Former Whalers Begin Coaching

October 07, 2005|By BRUCE BERLET; Courant Staff Writer

In the early 1980s, Bill Dineen was scouting for the Whalers in Sweden when he came across a rugged defenseman named Ulf Samuelsson.

``Dad has funny stories about going to see Ulfie,'' said Kevin Dineen, the former Whalers forward. ``And it's funny to hear Ulfie tell a story and then my dad tell a story. It's usually totally different versions.''

But there is no other version of this story: In 1982, the Whalers drafted Dineen in the third round and Samuelsson in the fourth. Both had excellent careers and 23 years later, both are coaching in the pros for the first time.

Dineen and Samuelsson played with the Whalers for parts of seven seasons (1984-91) before Samuelsson was traded with Ron Francis to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he won two Stanley Cups.

Samuelsson, who retired in 2000, was named a Wolf Pack assistant July 13. Five days later, Dineen was named head coach of the Portland Pirates, hired by former Whalers general manager Brian Burke, the GM of the Pirates' parent team, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Dineen and Samuelsson acknowledged there might be some friendly banter between the benches during the eight Wolf Pack-Pirates games this season.

``Kevin said it'll be like old times,'' Samuelsson said. ``We had some hard battles through the years. It was hard playing against him, but no one would buckle under. That's just the way we played.''

And how each plans to coach.

Coaching Calling

Dineen, who scored the winning goal in the Whalers' final game April 13, 1997, seemed destined to coach. His father played for the Detroit Red Wings and coached 18 years with the WHA's Whalers and Houston Aeros, NHL's Philadelphia Flyers and AHL's Adirondack Red Wings, winning the Calder Cup in 1986 and '89.

Dineen's four brothers played in the AHL. Gord has coached in the Florida Panthers and Phoenix Coyotes organizations in three AHL cities. Peter is a scout for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Jerry is the video coordinator for the Rangers.

Kevin, 41, was born in Quebec City, where his father was playing, and lived in five cities, including Glastonbury in his sophomore year of high school. He played two seasons at the University of Denver and spent parts of two years on the Canadian national team, playing in the 1984 Olympics before starting his pro career.

Dineen scored arguably the most memorable goal in Whalers history April 27, 1986, when he raced around future Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Robinson for the only score in Game 6 of the Adams Division finals. The Whalers lost Game 7 when Claude Lemieux beat Mike Liut high to the glove side at 5:55 of overtime. The Canadiens went on to win their 22nd of a record 23 Stanley Cups.

Despite being diagnosed with the intestinal disorder Crohn's Disease in 1987, Dineen played 19 seasons, also playing with the Flyers, Hurricanes, Senators and Blue Jackets before retiring Nov. 5, 2002. He had 355 goals, 405 assists and 2,229 penalty minutes in 1,188 games, one of five players with more than 350 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes.

Dineen, who spent the past two years as the Blue Jackets' director of player development, said he got ``the coaching itch'' working with the young players and staying in touch with former teammates who coach, such as Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett, Calgary Flames coach Joel Quenneville, Washington Capitals assistant Dean Evason, and John Anderson, who has won titles in the AHL and IHL with the Chicago Wolves.

Dineen also joked that Liut and Ray Ferraro, who was drafted by the Whalers in the fifth round in 1982 and later became an ESPN commentator, always ``talk a good game.'' And future Hall of Famer Francis, who retired at 42 in September, is ``too smart to become a coach. He's going to get in on ownership.''

``Those guys are all great resources for me to have,'' said Dineen, whose coaching debut is Saturday night in Springfield. ``I'm very fortunate to have friends I don't hesitate to call and basically ask stupid questions about things I probably should have learned 15 years ago. But I can bounce things off them, like how the new rules might affect people.

``And being on the management side, I was able to step back and focus on an individual's development and gain a new perspective and insight into trying to help a young player maximize his potential. It was a very gratifying job in helping them progress and will help in coaching.''

Dineen said his father will continue to be his biggest asset.

``Everybody has talked about how the game has changed and the players are bigger and faster,'' Dineen said. ``But a lot of times getting the best performance out of players has to do with how you treat them and with things that go on away from the rink. Dad is a great source to have for those kinds of things.''

Samuelsson expects Dineen to show why he was the 1991 NHL Man of the Year.